FIRST MALZAHAR BUILD ABOVE: SECOND BUILD ABOVE:
FED EARLY ENOUGH THAT ON YOUR WAY GETTIN RAPED, CAN'T BUY A CATALYST
BACK YOU CAN AFFORD A CATALYST ON FIRST RECALL




So yea, I've been playing Malzahar for awhile now... and uhhh Ive been having positive/high scores with him every single game... Time to give a guide a try.

Pros:
(In my opinion, one of the BEST 1v1 champions in the game)
AP ratios are insane
High survivability if you follow this guide
Has silence / suppressing ultimate
With this build, you cannot do anything until after your Rod of Ages...
He shuffles, any more questions?

Cons:
lol wut
(Positioning on abilities are super important)
(Ghost and flash are only escape mechanisms)

These runes are just my personal preference... Since Malzahar is an excellent farmer and doesn't require being near any threat at any time, I don't believe in any specific runes. Meaning no mana regen, particularly because Malefic Visions gives mana for every new target it decides to jump on.

But you have to remember CDR Quints + Morello's Evil Tome:
7.18% at level 18 += 27.18%

Level 18 abilities:

Call of the Void:
CD: 9
CDR: 6.5538

Null Zone:
CD: 14
CDR: 10.1948

Malefic Visions:
CD: 7
CDR: 5.0974

Nether Grasp:
CD: 80
CDR: 58.256

Marks:
Dat penetration.

Seals:
These runes give you even more survivability. Starting off with a sapphire crystal already makes you squishy. I find it easier to stay in lane, usually I have 2,500 gold in my inventory when I actually do have to back.

Glyphs:
Ability power runes are an even better compliment to staying in lane for farm. With 3 points inyou get a total of 10.8 AP at level 18. These glyphs will give 28 AP at level 18. 38.8 AP at level 18... 2 built in's.

From just HP Seals and AP Glyphs, you basically get aat level 7.

Here are your only choices (Top being most important to me) :
- Oh yes... Engage with this, Escape with this over the wall... Are you kidding me? YOU NEED THIS AS A PRIMARY
- Ignite + Malefic Visions = Dat Synergy. If you combo ANY champion with this when they are 1/8 hp it is a guaranteed kill.
- Good escape / engaging summoner spell. lol yea if you are a ***** take this, I would.
- Good for getting back into the lane for moar minion kills :3
- Yea, if your team has too much Ignite, Ghost, or Tele then take this. FOREVER A LANE

[Passive]
Summon Voidling
After casting 4 spells, Malzahar summons an uncontrollable Voidling to engage enemy units for 21 seconds. Voidlings have 200 + 50 x lvl Health and 20 + 5 x lvl Damage.
Voidlings Grow after 7 seconds (+50% Damage/Armor), and Frenzy after 14 seconds (+100% Attack Speed). Voidlings attack the target affected by Malzahar's most recently cast Malefic Visions.

This is a passive most Malzahar's ignore... Don't underestimate the Voidling!
1: The voidling is such a great harasser early game, once you stick a malefic visions on the enemy champion, you can outrange mostly every champion with this little guy. You just have to let your voidling get close to his target, going too far away from the target with malefic visions causes the voidling to fall back to you.

2: The voidling IS YOUR TANK/DPS. He is extremely compatible with ignoring the tower. This includes tanking the tower, melting the tower, and tower diving. It can take 5 hits on its last evolution before dying. If you are desperate to take a tower with no creep around, use your null zone and call of the void to summon your voidling and bring him to the enemy tower.

[Ability 1]
Call of the Void
Malzahar opens two portals to the void. After a short delay, they fire projectiles which deal 80 / 135 / 190 / 245 / 300 (+80% of ability power) magic damage and silence champions for 1.4 / 1.8 / 2.2 / 2.6 / 3 seconds.


Call of the Void is what gets you that first blood and what saves allies. I personally use this to counter enemy champions from last hitting in early game. Or if an enemy caster is spamming me with their combos, then use this and the enemy champion will stand in stupidity as they get countered. THIS ABILITY GIVES YOU VISION

[Ability 2]
Null Zone
Malzahar creates a zone of negative energy for 5 seconds. The zone deals 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8% (+1% of ability power)% of the target's max health as magic damage each second (damage to monsters is capped).

People will QQ about "OOOH GAY ULTIMATE" "TOO MUCH DAMAGE" "NO SKILL ULTIMATE". They shouldn't be complaining about an easily cancellable ultimate, but about a built in madred's x2 Nullzone + Malefic Visions + Nether Grasp = OVERKILL. No escape for 8% of life getting taken away per second.

[Ability 3]
Malefic Visions
Malzahar infects his target's mind, dealing 80 / 140 / 200 / 260 / 320 (+80% of ability power) magic damage over 4 seconds. If the target dies during this time, the visions pass to a nearby enemy and Malzahar gains 10 / 14 / 18 / 22 / 26 mana. Malzahar's Voidlings are attracted to affected units.

BREAD AND BUTTER BABEH. This skill is what makes FARMZAHAR so gewd. For early game, use this to farm minions. Malefic visions + basic attack + voidling = too many minion kills. Mid to late game - everyone is pissed off about that random malefic visions hopping on low enemy champions. If you are near enemy champions at mid, EVEN BEFORE you engage a team battle, toss plenty amounts of malefic visions on to nearby minions. Once they rot and die, they could jump on an innocent enemy champion without them even noticing.

[Ultimate]
Nether Grasp
Malzahar grips his target in an engulfing void of energy to suppress the target (stuns and disables summoner spells), dealing 250 / 400 / 550 (+130% of ability power) magic damage over 2.5 seconds. The damage is applied in ticks, every half second.

Your uh, "fake and gay" ultimate that everyone hates. A flat 550 damage without ability power in. WITH ability power a x1.3 ratio. crazy stuff there.... This ultimate can literally turn around any fight... If you are desperate and are about to lose, use your combo with ult and if you don't kill the person, you may make their hp equal to yours. lol even if you die it always ends up with you saying

Knowing that you have a suppress, DoT, and silence, you should no problem midding as Malzahar. Yet, there are still champions that give me trouble...

Remember, a lane isn't always permanent. It's viable to have a lane switch if you feeding or feel like you can't handle mid.

Spell combos:
Q = Call of the Void
W = Null Zone
E = Malefic Visions
R = Nether Grasp

Everytime you engage a 1v1, your skill order will always be:
Q->W->E->R (Ignite if necessary)
AND REMEMBER, PLAY IT SAFE, UNTIL THEY ARE HALF-HP, THEN YOUR KILL IS SECURED FROM THIS COMBO.

But in team battles, the order is unnecessary, just spamming your Q, W and E is enough to deal massive amounts of damage to non moving players... Enemy champions usually ignore your spell combos in team battle (not caring to dodge any) so place it in a spot where many champions are standing...

I usually use the R when an enemy champion is attempting to escape. Or is suppressing or being a threat to me or my squishier allies.

Reread the Skills Analysis section for more tips as to how to use your skills properly.

The Core for my builds are
Listen up now, every game will have a different situation...
Some games it will be beyond your control to have lane dominance and you may get zoned...
Minion kills may be low, or high. This section is for situational builds:

If you have OK lane dominance, you should be able to recall with (925 gold) enough gold for athe beauty of staying a lane from Catalyst's passive <3

so you recalled... make sure every time you b, that you get 2-3 health potions. It is necessary as even just one health potion can save you from a terrible ignite.

Finishing your core should be at most 10 minutes... Ive gotten aat 17 minutes (no boots) so make sure you do well with farming creeps

REMEMBER THE SOONER YOU GET A, THE MOAR BENEFIT YOU GET.

If you are not as fed, buy the prerequisites to theor buy aof which you could sell later

Basically here are the items I use:

ORDER OF IMPORTANCE:

ACCEPTABLE GETTING RAPED ITEMS:

ACCEPTABLE SITUATIONAL ITEMS:

THE REASON I DON'T INCLUDE:

Ok... Think about it:

Rod of Ages
Total Price: 3035
Recipe Price: 850
80 Ability Power, 630 Health, 725 Mana. Passive: Your Champion gains 18 Health, 20 Mana, and 2 Ability Power every 1 min. Bonuses cap at +180 Health, +200 Mana and +20 Ability Power. (Already included in item statistics) UNIQUE Passive: Upon leveling up, restores 250 health and 200 mana over 8 seconds.

Archangel's Staff
Total Price: 2855
Recipe Price: 1000
45 Ability Power, 1400 Mana, 25 Mana Per 5 Sec. Passive: 3% of your Max Mana is converted to Ability Power. UNIQUE Passive: Each time your Champion uses an Ability their Maximum Mana will increase by 4 Mana. This effect has a 3 second cooldown. Bonus caps at 1000 mana. (Mana bonus already included in item statistics)
Good for late game... Yet, bad for early game eh? (Squishy)
Good for early game... Good for late game too?!?!? oh ok!

I am a very high believer on Farmzahar... With Catalyst's passive, you can lane forever! Enjoy this please... Getting the Catalyst first not only boosts survivability, but also gives more mana and hp on level. WIN-WIN
So I'm sure Tear of Goddess fans are QQ'ing that Catalyst is not that good. Well ok then. You can take a Tear of Goddess first, but if you constantly farm with your Malefic Visions you will never be mana-starved. Even if you are mana-starved, go grab a blue buff.

BUT BUT BUT BUTGIVES SO MUCH MOAR AP LATE GAME. I know this is true... but you know, a good defense is a good offense. You could be with 3k hp withand.

Farming Demonstration:
Use your Malefic Visions to farm for minions. Remember: Malefic Visions + Auto Attack + Voidling= 3 hits per second Play Video
Using Voidlings:
Don't underestimate the little guy... Even if you are stunned, your voidling still does damage, and can do the damage for you while your out. Play Video
Counter attacks on AP casters:
Self-explanatory. Follow up with Call of the Void for a silence if you expect the enemy ap caster to combo you. Once they are disabled, finish them of with a Malefic Visions-Null Zone-Nether Grasp and Ignite if necessary. Play Video Play Video
Role in team fights:
Your damage output is rigged... Even if you don't get the kill, make sure you spam your skills as much as possible while staying in the back because you are an AP caster, not tank. Remember the placement of your Null Zone; as it works well with knock ups and AOE stuns. Remember your Call of the Void, because in team battles, most people spam their combos over and over, not expecting a silence. The confusion of a "spell not going off" can turn the tide of a team battle. Malefic Visions like I said before, can be used to pick off damaged champions, toss this ability in for extra damage. Nether Grasp... You can engage with this on an enemy carry and then it is GG for the enemy team. An enemy team with their star player being suppressed is just a team of no-damage champions. Or if you are alone (with teammates coming) then you can engage with your ultimate as a follow up until your allies arrive. Play Video
Following up with Nether Grasp to prevent escaping: Play Video

There already is a highly rated build with similar opinions to me...
Check out Your text to link here... RosePhoenix's Malzahar build if you don't find mine as good. (I didn't copy anyone's materials, we just so happened to have the same opinions.) :) We basically just have different item material and opinions on what to get.